Lemongrass, Rosemary, and Pink Camellias
by Aakasha
Summary: [MDZS] [LSZ/JL] [JL/LJY] [LSZ/JL/LJY] ZhuiLingYi / ZhuiLingYi M/M SLASH! ABO, soulbonds/soulmarks, soulbonds have scents that are complimentary to each other. Lan Jingyi is in love with his two best friends, but they are soul mates with each other. Hanahaki Disease, Depression, Angst, Romace, friends to lovers, healing, LEMONS (graphic M/M), MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH IN ALTERNATIVE END
1. Coriander

Coriander

Everyone in this world has a particular scent that clings to them and helps define who they are. Each individual has two scents; a regular scent that anyone can smell, and a soulbond scent. Only your soulbond can detect the secondary scent, and only the secondary scent. When someone finds their soulbond (the person who shares the same mark as they do, and who they have the highest chance of making happiness together with) their scents intermingle and become complementary to each other.

Watching his two best friends, clad in the deepest of reds with eyes only for each other, walk by him, Lan Jingyi inhaled deeply their scents of fresh cedar and juniper. They were a perfect match, and Jingyi? Lan Jingyi smelled of coriander; bitter and acrid.

A tight pain gripped his chest tightly as he watched them leave the celebration hall together. It was fine, he had known this day was coming for a long time. It had already been two years since Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling discovered they were soulbonds, during Lan Jingyi's sixteenth birthday no less (Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui nineteen and twenty at the time). Lan Jingyi hadn't been able to enjoy the rest of his birthday feast.

Two years… Lan Jingyi was eighteen now and it still felt like it had that day. He inhaled deeply and plastered a smile on his face, grinned through the slight pain in his chest. It was fine, they were a perfect soulbond pair and Lan Jingyi knew that they would find happiness together. It didn't matter that most bonds were between an alpha and omega pairing or that people whispered about two strong headed alphas being bonded, he knew his two best friends would find happiness together. As long as they were happy, that was all that mattered.

Lan Jingyi slipped quietly from the hall and flew back to the Cloud Recesses alone.

Jin Ling made an indignant noise when Lan Sizhui picked him up bridal style and spun him around happily before depositing him on their bed. Lan Sizhui grinned down at his blushing husband's face. "Hey! Who said you could treat me like the wife!" Jin Ling squawked loudly, "You're the one who walked down the aisle!"

"Oh?" Lan Sizhui said playfully. "I don't recall agreeing to being your wife." He _had _agreed to be "the bride" during the ceremony though, as Jin Ling practically threw a fit and Lan Sizhui figured it was only right since he was intending to marry into Lanling Jin and not the other way around. Lan Sizhui chuckled and leaned in to whisper hotly, "But I can be your husband."

When Lan Jingyi touched down at Cloud Recesses it was well into the middle of the night. The few people not at the celebration in Lanling had been asleep for hours. The night air was cold and still as he made his way back to his shared room with Lan Sizhui, just his room now. Lan Sizhui would never share it with him again. Alone in the dark, Jingyi's chest ached.

Jin Ling laid panting on silken red sheets, knees splayed wide and his robes strewn open around him, hair fanned out like an inky halo. Lan Sizhui's long red wedding band wound around his eyes and down to his wrists behind his back. Everytime his hands twitched his head jerked in response. Lan Sizhui's white ribbon formed a perfect bow around the base of his cock, it's ends trailing down between his creamy thighs.

Lan Sizhui swallowed dryly at the sight between those ribbon ends; two of his fingers pushed and pulled at Jin Ling's entrance. He was transfixed by the obscene sounds coming from his husband's oil soaked virgin hole. He watched, entranced, as the tips of his fingers pressed in the edges of Jin Ling's pink hole only to be sucked in completely before dragging them back out again, the entrance puckering around them. He twisted and scissored them repeatedly until even his own breath grew ragged from it.

Jin Ling's thighs shook from the continued assault and his face burned from the squelching sounds coming from his body. His hips jerked up as the first deep thrust of fingers brushed against his prostate, causing his hands to pull on the bonds over his eyes. "Ah!" he cried out in surprise before sucking his bottom lip into his mouth.

Lan Sizhui pulled his fingers free and, from behind him, produced another cloth ribbon that he used to cover Jin Ling's mouth, before going back to studiously fingering his love. Every time his fingers thrust inside of Jin Ling he pushed them deeper and deeper until he was just stirring them inside of his trembling husband, watching the oil drip out between his fingers.

Oh yes, Lan Sizhui wanted to ruin his beautiful husband.

Lan Jingyi tossed and turned in his small bed. The room was too quiet and his chest ached weirdly, his lungs felt cold. Rubbing the soulbond mark on his chest in an attempt to rid himself of the feeling, Jingyi wondered if he would ever find his bonded pair. If anyone could love an omega who smelled bitter like coriander.

Shortly after Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling married, Lan Jingyi started getting sick a lot. He frequently came down with fevers and had chest pains, his body felt weak. After the first six months he would wake up in the middle of the night from coughing fits, drenched in a cold sweat and feeling like his lungs were seizing. It constantly felt like something was sitting in the back of his throat that he couldn't get out.

Over time he starts to notice these little brown… dots mixed in with the bits of mucus he is coughing up and his breath starts smelling… odd. It leaves an earthy almost bitter-tasting coating, like something sweet that has gone sour, that lingers heavy on his tongue.

Lan Jingyi doesn't know if he is dying or not but he figures he must be. He's caught some weird disease and this is it, this is how he dies. Alone and bitter tasting like the coriander scent he carries that everyone turns their nose up at.

It isn't until the end of that first year, when Jingyi's throat starts itching terribly and he retches up a small, mangled, white bell flower about the size of the tip of this finger, that Jingyi really knows.

It's probably fitting that he will die alone without a soulbond because someone unfaithful like him does not deserve a precious bond to cherish, not like what his two best friends have. Not him, not when he covets something that can never be his. Jingyi doesn't deserve his souldbond, wherever they may be, not when his heart is filled with such longing for someone else.


	2. Fields of Heather

Fields of Heather

Jingyi is twenty seven now, almost twenty eight. In fact, his birthday is in a few weeks. He wonders if they will come visit him this year. They were too busy with Lanling sect business to attend a small gathering the previous year. Jingyi decided not to send out invitations this year. Hadn't wanted to for the past few years really, it was only because Senior Wei always insisted…

'_What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't throw a party for my favorite disciple?'_

Jingyi had tried using the _guqin _to calm the growing flowers but his fingers were clumsy on the strings. Wei Wuxian had taken it upon himself to teach him the _dizi _instead and, while he was surprisingly more adept at it, it was still yet another example of how lacking he was in every way. He just wished that, for once in his life, he wasn't lacking in some way. That he could play his clan's instrument. That his omega scent wasn't bitter and off putting to most everyone. That he was worthy of having a soulbond. That he didn't long for something so preposterous as his own best friends.

That he wasn't slowly dying alone…

Jingyi sighs and leans against the small tree at his back as he plays the _dizi _softly and watches the wind catch in the tiny spine leaves of the many small trees in his garden. A garden made from the love in his heart, literally.

Tending to the trees he's grown from the seeds he coughs up, along with the calming melodies from the _dizi_, are one of the only things that soothes the budding pain in his chest anymore.

Jingyi hopes he can see Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui again this year, that they won't be too busy to stop by for his birthday. He's sure that Senior Wei is planning something behind his back despite the fact that Jingyi no longer has any friends to celebrate with. He hasn't bothered with anyone or anything for a long time. Why would he? He knows his place, that he isn't good enough. Knows that he is sick, rotten omega not worthy of anyone's time.

Still though… Jingyi hopes they come. He smiles a soft warm smile at the thought of seeing them again.

It's been a long time since any of Jingyi's smiles reached his eyes.

Lan Sizhui sighs as he shuffles through his pile of scrolls.

Dropping his own scroll back onto the table in front of him, Jin Ling glares at his husband, "_What?_ What is it now?"

"I don't _know_. Okay?" Lan Sizhui replies.

"Argh!" Jin Ling runs his hands through his hair in frustration. "_You don't know?_"

"I'm sorry, I just… I don't… ," Lan Sizhui whispers, "It just _feels _like there is something missing." It was always like this. Nothing was ever enough.

"I'm sorry I'm not enough for you, _A-Yuan_," he says dryly, as if it's an old argument, because it is. One that has been plaguing them for a while.

"A-ling… you _know _that's not what I mean," Lan Sizhui sighs gently. "Don't you feel it?" He asks gently.

"No," Jin Ling says before giving up and storming out. His stride falters as soon as he is out of sight, however, because he _does _know. He feels it too, a gaping void, like something is missing, like _someone _is missing. Like whenever he turns around, someone else is supposed to be there. _Someone that is not Lan Sizhui_ and Jin Ling refuses to admit it.

He refuses to admit that his soulbond is a mistake.

Jingyi can feel it spreading inside him, soon even the _dizi _won't be enough and, honestly, he isn't sure how he made it this long anyway. He's survived off of pure pain and suffering until now, he supposes, as his fingers dig through the soil under him. His throat starts to itch again but he ignores it in favor of the task he has given himself. It's normal now, anyway, the pain and itching that precludes the small bell flowers and their spiny leaves.

His hands sift through more soil, delicately extracting the roots of the smallest and most recent heather bush, without damaging them. His fingers are thin and pale and don't want to move well anymore. Probably because of his low energy. He doesn't eat well these days, has no desire to. Even if he did, he can barely keep anything down now anyway, he has the thin and gaunt frame to show for it. His face is pale and sallow.

Jingyi stands up slowly with the small plant in his hands and he wonders, if he just ripped the roots out… would the pain stop? His chest squeezes at the thought and a cough wracks his too small frame. No, it would probably just feel like tearing his heart out.

Jingyi swallows down the thick, rotten honey taste in his mouth before taking the plant inside.

Lan Sizhui bristles slightly at Jin Ling's words and soft touch. He wasn't some soft maiden who needed doting on. He opens his mouth to say so before catching himself. This is ridiculous. Jin Ling is his mate, his soulbond. It doesn't matter that they are both alphas or that they can't have children together. They _love _each other and loving mates _help care for each other_. Which was exactly his argument for why they should get married in the first place and what he frequently reminded Jin Ling himself. Why is he falling into this the same trap?

Why are they like this?

Lan Sizhui sighs and leans into Jin Ling's touch. Maybe they just need to find someone to dote on. A small child for two headstrong alphas. Lan Sizhui snorts at that. They could always visit Lan Jingyi… Lan Sizhui loves spoiling his best friend and he knows Jin Ling does as well. There's just something about seeing that bright smile light up his face that made Lan Sizhui's day every time. They hadn't been very good friends lately, he knew, but maybe they can take him out to his favorite places to eat. It was Lan Jingyi's birthday soon.

Lan Sizhui sat upright, almost knocking his soulbond over in his haste.

"God, what now?" Jin Ling grouses. "Did I touch you wrong or something?"

"What? No. That's not even… ugh!" Sizhui throws up his hands, "Whatever, that's not important right now." Grabbing Jin Ling's shoulders, Lan Sizhui shakes him slightly and says, "_A-Ling, we forgot Lan Jingyi's birthday._"

Wei Wuxian is worried about his little disciple. He knows Lan Jingyi has been worsening over the years but no one knows why and at this point the poor kid has practically gone into seclusion for want of avoiding people's stares. At first he had thought the boy was just finally succumbing to the stuffy Lan clan ways and finally adopting their propriety, that he was "growing and maturing". It had made Wei Wuxian sad to see his bright sunshine becoming so mellow but he didn't say anything, thinking it might be a good thing. Lan Jingyi had always felt like he didn't belong, those insufferable elders being the worst of the lot, Wei Wuxian scoffs. Maybe, he could finally dig out a place for himself and figure out who he is supposed to be and where he fits in.

But now though…?

Even Wei Wuxian can tell that wasn't it, that something was really wrong and that Lan Jingyi's sickness was not getting better. He had become so withdrawn that he hadn't even noticed Wei Wuxian speaking to him the other day. He tried asking what was bothering the young man but Lan Jingyi just assured him that everything was fine and that perhaps he was just tired and, yes, he would rest more.

When he had told Lan Wangji about his concerns his husband suggested reaching out to their son and Wei Wuxian's nephew. They had always been close, maybe they could cheer him up where Wei Wuxian could not? Afterall, Lan Jingyi's birthday was just around the corner.

Jingyi knows he can't hold on for much longer, in either his vain attempt for a mate or for his returned affections. Maybe he should just give in finally. It would be easier that way. He's going to die, alone and choking on the sickeningly sweet taste of honey that clogs his nose and throat. His mate is never coming for him. Can't save him even if they do. Jingyi isn't worth saving, isn't worth loving.

He feels sorry for his mate, for leaving first, for being stuck with someone like him, for loving someone else. Two people even, not only is he disloyal to his soulbond, but he can't even choose between his two best friends. No wonder they had chosen each other instead. He knows he isn't worth their love. Maybe that's why he never found his mate. Maybe he never really had one… someone like him? Always alone and never any good. He can't do anything right, not even loving someone. The only thing he has to give is this garden, the garden of his heart. It isn't worth anything. _He _isn't worth anything.

Jingyi sighs and looks down.

Even the small bell petals strewn across his lap meant nothing anymore.

Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui make plans to set out at the end of the week for Cloud Recesses. It's been an ashamedly long time since they've put things aside to visit their best friend and they want to make sure everything is in order before they leave so there will be no distractions. Excitement thrums through them both and neither one can wait to see the look on Lan Jingyi's face when they surprised him. Jin Ling smiles softly in anticipation but he quickly schools his expression when Lan Sizhui's quiet laughter catches his attention. "Ugh, what now?"

"Nothing," Lan Sizhui laughs again, "You just seem so happy to be seeing someone other than me. I thought I was more than enough for you, _A-Ling_," Lan Sizhui snickers teasingly.

"Damnit, A-Yuan! It's not like that! I just miss him is all… ," Jin Ling trails off softly. "I almost can't even recall his smell and it used to be as familiar to me as yours," He states sadly.

"Yes," Lan Sizhui agrees in a quiet voice. "I remember I used to love his scent. It reminded me of the lemongrass in the field we all played in together as children."

"Eh?" Jin Ling questions, "You smell like that lemongrass, A-Yuan. Lan Jingyi has always smelled like that weird little herb you two had growing in your olds rooms. You know, when we would all study together. Uh…"

"Rosemary," Lan Sizhui finishes for him. "We used to have a rosemary plant," he whispers.

"Yeah!" Jin Ling agrees, "That plant! Wait, you think he smells like lemongrass?"

"Jin Ling, it's not possible for him to smell different to both of us. Not unless… ," Lan Sizhui trails off and Jin Ling's eyes widen at the implication.

Not unless he was bound to one of them.

Every person has their own distinct scent, it helps define who you are to others. This scent is the same to everyone, except for one person, your soulbond. A soulbond will only detect a comforting scent from you that reminds them of their love for you and is complementary to the scent that you smell on them.

If they both thought Lan Jingyi smelled different, then one of them had to be "wrong".


	3. Gifts from the Heart

Gifts from the Heart

Jingyi diligently prunes the leaves and branches off the small tree he potted. He knows they'll think it's ridiculous, him giving a present when it's his birthday, but he figures it's the least he could do. Since they'd be coming to see him, but he won't be here anymore.

Jingyi's breaths rattle with each intake and spots dot his vision. He coughs more bell petals and spiny leaves, he can feel one piercing his throat. Everything hurts, each draw of breath makes his lungs ache. His limbs are heavy with exhaustion.

He sets his heart's bonsai out where they will see it when they come, because they will come this time, even if he doesn't get to see them.

Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling look up at each other after reading the letter sent from Wei Wuxian. While the content wasn't exactly all that worrying, just the fact that his oblivious father noticed anything at all worth worrying about was… more than concerning for the pair. He hasn't been known to be the most observant, nor was he very good at keeping in touch, too busy living in his own little world that consisted of only Hanguang-jun. He never noticed anything unless smacked over the head with it.

They don't bother to send a letter back announcing their early arrival. With a few hasty instructions, the letter is shoved back into the hands of the servant who brought it to them and the pair is hurrying off.

Within the hour they're mounted on their swords, flying as fast as their spiritual power can carry them, panic and strain written on their faces. How bad was it if even Wei Wuxian felt concerned enough to send them a letter?

If something was wrong with Lan Jingyi and they didn't make it in time…

How could they have left him like that for so long?

When they land at the foot of the mountain, tired and drained, the sun is already setting. Neither one cares for their state as they run the entire way up the stone steps into the cloud recesses. They both realize that they haven't been here in so long that they don't even know where Lan Jingyi is living now, he would be old enough to have moved out of the disciple dorms a while ago.

God, they were such bad friends.

When They finally get to Lan Jingyi's residence, courtesy of bad directions from Wei Wuxian, they find him sitting quietly against a small tree standing amidst a garden of white flowering shrubbery of all sizes. He doesn't stir when they call out to him. He looks like he fell asleep while playing the dizi that now rests in his lap. They move closer quietly, so as not to disturb him, with the intention of bringing him inside to lie down properly,but they both freeze in place when they come around to face him and Lan Sizhui gasps aloud. There is blood staining Lan Jingyi's lips, splatters dotting his white robes. A pool of it cooling in his lap. Needle-like leaves and small white bell flowers lay soaking in the coalesced blood. The same flowers as the tiny dried petals that still cling to his mouth.

Lan Jingyi's breathing is so shallow that it's barely noticeable and Lan Sizhui's hand shakes as he reaches for one of the small flowers. Please let it be one of them, he thinks, this is the friend of their heart and there is no time to look for the person if it is not them.

_Please let it be one of them._

Hours pass by as the healers come and go, trying to bring him back to consciousness. Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling lie in the bed on either side of him. Their arms wrapped around Jingyi as they try to console themselves. How could they let this happen? Who was it? How could they not know? If only they had been more attentive, maybe they would know, maybe they could help him. Maybe he wouldn't be dying like this.

Lan Sizhui sits up and tries to dry his tears. They need to keep Lan Jingyi clean and comfortable until… until they can bring whoever this person is. They prop Lan Jingyi up with his back against Jin Ling so Lan Sizhui can try to clean his face and chest. Lan Sizhui begins to undress their friend so he can wipe his delicate skin down, but he freezes when the robes loosen enough so that Lan Sizhui is able to see Lan Jingyi's chest. There, just over his heart where Lan Jingyi's own soulmate mark should be, is… his mark? This is his and Jin Ling's mating mark. A single pink camellia. Lan Sizhui quickly pulls down the tops of his own robes. It's exactly the same.

"A-Ling!" Lan Sizhui cries frantically. "A-Ling, it's us," he chokes out, practically sobbing, "_It's us._"

It takes a minute for Jin Ling to understand what his mate is telling him. Lan Jingyi is… Lan Jingyi is theirs? He adjusts the now almost weightless man in his arms so he can see what Lan Sizhui sees. His eyes go wide with surprise and suddenly they are both hugging the smaller man in between them. They spend the entire night whispering desperate pleas into Lan Jingyi's ears.


	4. New Beginnings

New Beginnings

When Jingyi wakes the next morning, it feels like his body is clasped in a vise. He can't move and it's overwhelmingly hot. He hears a noise in his ear when he tries to sit up. Startled, he turns his head only to come face to face with Lan Sizhui.

What?

Jingyi looks around and realizes that not only is he somehow in his bed with Lan Sizhui wrapped around him, but that Jin Ling is equally wrapped around his other side. He doesn't understand. How did he get inside? Why are they here now? Had he done something wrong to disturb their peace? Jingyi starts to panic, his breathing becoming ragged. He struggles to escape their hold, but he is so weak now. His body barely has the energy to move.

The pair wakes up to find Jingyi panicking in between them. They try calling his name, but he doesn't hear them. They grasp him tighter in their hold, repeatedly telling him how much they love him and that it's going to be alright. Jingyi doesn't hear any of it. All he does is cry and apologize over and over again until he exhausts himself and falls unconscious again.

_I'm sorry I'm not good enough._

_I'm sorry I've bothered you._

_Please don't hate me._

Jingyi is alone when he wakes again. It must have been a desperate fever dream conjured by his dying mind. There's no way they would be here with him now. They have each other. Jingyi struggles to stand from his bed, but his legs don't want to fully support his weight any longer. Not that there is much weight _to _support.

When Jingyi walks around the divider providing privacy to his bed he almost collapses from surprise. Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui are sitting in his rooms talking in sharp but quiet tones. They don't notice him right away, so he just stands there, unsure of what to do. His coughing eventually draws their attention and Lan Sizhui rushes over to him when they both notice Jingyi standing there. Words are pouring out of the older man's mouth but Jingyi can barely hear him. His ears are ringing as he looks at the pair in front of him. Jingyi's legs finally give out. Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui both lunge to catch him in their arms and the three slowly lower to the ground in a huddle of tears and whispered words.

"_We love you; do you hear me? Lan Jingyi! We love you! I love you!"_

"_Stay with us, Jingyi! Jingyi? Dammit, Lan Jingyi! I love you! Stay with me!"_

Lan Jingyi's whole body trembles and suddenly he feels like he can breathe for the first time in years as the sick taste of rotten honey slowly fades from his mouth with each new inhale of juniper and fresh cedar wood.

"Jin Ling, I- ," Jingyi is cut off abruptly as Jin Ling roughly presses his mouth to Jingyi's own.

"Stupid! What did you think you were doing, huh? Leaving us something like that without saying a word," he says hotly. Just thinking about Jingyi, alone and suffering while tending to those trees… uh, no. He wouldn't think about it. Instead he leans in to kiss the smaller boy one more time before pulling away with a small bite to his bottom lip and rests their foreheads together. "We love you, stupid."

Jingyi barely remembers the rest of their conversation. He feels like he is in heaven.

They stay with him like that in Cloud Recesses until he is well enough to travel, kissing and touching him at every opportunity. Showering him with as much love and attention as his small frame and abused heart can handle. He still gets overwhelmed easily and cries at the drop of a hat. Everyday he is scared that this is all a dream and he never wants to wake up.

They've been in Lanling Jin now for a few weeks now and Jin Ling can't take it anymore. Lan Jingyi's scent has been driving him crazy. Everynight, having him sleep between the both of them, too afraid they might shock him and scare him away…

Jin Ling was going to die.

He and Lan Sizhui had talked it over and decided that it was best not to overwhelm him with too much at once, that maybe they should take turns… introducing him into their daily activities. Yesterday Jin Ling happened by when Lan Sizhui was teasing the smaller boy and, my god, _the sounds_ and _why was his scent so intoxicating?_ Jin Ling is harder than steel just thinking about it. He wants to taste his little omega.

Jin Ling creeps quietly into their bedroom where Jingyi is sleeping soundly. He leans over the sleeping omega and inhales deeply, his eyes darkening hungrily at the delicious scent. Yes, he is going to enjoy tasting him.

Slowly, so as to not startle him, Jin Ling presses a small kiss to his lips before dipping his tongue inside just slightly and runs it along the underside in Jingyi's upper lip. "Mmm," the smaller boy moans softly before opening sleep blurred eyes.

"A-Yi," Jin Ling whispers roughly, "let me love you today." Before the other has a chance to understand what Jin Ling is saying, he feels hands slide up under the small of his back and the sheets being pulled away. Jin Ling groans at the sight before him, apparently Jingyi had fallen asleep before getting dressed in his nightwear.

Lifting up one ankle, Jin Ling presses a soft kiss to it before trailing his lips slowly along the calf, up the underside of his knee, and begins to suck gently. Satisfaction ripples through him at the sight of the small purple mark he leaves on Jingyi's skin. He continues his way up the inside of a soft thigh, trailing bites and kisses all the way until he comes to Lan Jingyi's rosy entrance. Staring up at the other from where he is kneeling between Lan Jingyi's thighs, he looks directly at Lan Jingyi's sweet face as places both legs over his shoulders he repeats, "Let me love you," before delivering one long lick to the underside of Lan Jingyi's delicate sack.

Lan Jingyi shudders at the sensation and cries out at the first hot swipe over his entrance. The taste of slick coming from the squirming omega under him has Jin Ling growling and pressing his tongue inside past the tight ring. His licks all around Lan Jingyi's insides, drinking up the sweet taste of his omega, uncaring as the wetness smears over his face. Pulling back briefly to admire his work, Jin Ling leans in once more to suck on the outside until it's puckered and swollen, making Lan Jingyi cry out desperately before moving along his perineum and leaving a bruising kiss there too.

Satisfied for now, Jin Ling leans over Lan Jingyi to tongue wet trails across his hip bones while working two fingers into him. Slowly he moves them in and out, stretching and twisting until Lan Jingyi is a crying pleading mess and just when Lan Jingyi thinks he can't take any more, Jin Ling presses those fingers into his prostate and rubs. Over and over Jin Ling stirs his fingers inside Lan Jingyi until he is left a crying shaking mess from his orgasm.

"A-Ling, A-Ling," the smaller omega sobs, and Jin Ling feels his heart clench. Carefully he wrapps Lan Jingyi in his arms and holds him until they both fall asleep.

A few months go by and Lan Jingyi is finally well enough to start training again. Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui both agree that he should be healthy enough now to receive their full… attentions. They help him go through some of the basic training movements before declaring him "too exhausted" to continue and take him back to their rooms to get more rest.

Lan Jingyi hears the doors slide shut behind them and when he turns around, he's met with the gaze of two hungry alphas. Jingyi gulps quietly and stumbles onto the bed when the backs of his knees hit the edge. "What- ," he gasps out quietly before the both of them are kneeling on either side of him, purring his name into his ears.

"A-Yi… ," they both whisper seductively to him and a shot of electricity laces down his spine. He feels one set of hands make their way to undo his hair while the other opens his robes, leaving them to pool around him. Their scents mingle in the hot air around him and Lan Jingyi can feel his heat rising to meet them as they trail their hands down his sides. Soft, wet kisses press to his chest and throat and Lan Jingyi can feel the wetness inside him gathering at a particular bite to his adam's apple and a press of finger into the skin above his hip bone.

Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui spend hours kissing and touching Lan Jingyi together until he is stretched, limp and boneless between them from multiple orgasms.

The two of them sit facing each other, both with the opposite leg over the other's hip so that they can press their erections together. With little trouble between the both of them, Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui position Lan Jingyi in the middle, shoulders touching their chests and legs laying forward between them, and slowly begin sitting him down on their paired cocks.

Lan Jingyi's arms fly up to wrap around their necks, pulling their heads down towards his chest and each other as he hangs on for dear life. Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui's eyes meet, satisfaction courses through them like lightning, this was right. This was what they were missing.

Sharing a kiss between the two of them, they reach down below Lan Jingyi to press their fingers in alongside their cocks, stretching him further. Lan Jingyi grunts at the intrusion as he feels Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui each hooking a finger at his entrance to open him up even further. Ever so slowly they ease him down onto the both of them and Lan Jingyi feels like he is filled to bursting.

By the time he is fully seated on his alpha's cocks Lan Jingyi's entire body is shaking and, no longer able to hold himself up from the strain, places his full body weight onto them. Three low groans sound out when Lan Jingyi tries to adjust himself and they still for a few moments longer, unable to take the feeling.

Slowly, his alphas start to thrust shallowly into him and Lan Jingyi can't stop the tremors that wrack his body or the wetness flowing out of him, soaking their cocks and the sheets below them. The sensation of having his prostate continuously pressed on is too much and Lan Jingyi is coming too soon. Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui can feel his abused wet hole clenching desperately around them and their eyes darken with a hungry possessiveness. As one, they lean into Lan Jingyi's neck and sink their marks deep into his skin and ride out his orgasm before filling him with so much cum that it leaks out around their cocks and stains the sheets underneath.

Lan Jingyi walks sleepy eyed out of their bedroom into the sitting room and gives his pair of alpha's a suspicious look when they immediately stopped talking. He doesn't trust the look in their eyes, not one bit. "Good morning," he says cautiously, "what are you two doing?"

"A-Yi," they both say at once before Lan Sizhui alone speaks up again, "come with us. We have something to show you."

"Uh, no." Lan Jingyi says matter of factly. "The last time you said that I ended up impaled on both of you at once and I couldn't walk straight for a week," he humphs out while crossing his arms.

"Ah, well… that - ," Sizhui coughs politely, "I thought you liked it?"

Lan Jingyi blushes furiously, "That is not the point and you -!"

"MARRY ME!" Jin Ling screams causing Lan Jingyi to choke on his words in shock.

"What?" he asks weakly.

"Marry me," Jin Ling repeats, "Marry us, Lan Jingyi."

"Please," Lan Sizhui whispers lovingly while grabbing both of the omega's hands in his own, "Lan Jingyi, will you marry us?"

"I… I… ," tears fell from Lan Jingyi's eyes as he starts to hiccup uncontrollably.

"We love you so much, our heart," Lan Sizhui says softly, "Please, let's get married."

"Yes!" Lan Jingyi cries out between sobs, "Yes! I love you both so much, yes yes!"

Jin Ling let go of the breath he was holding and he went to wrap his arms around the other two and Lan Jingyi swears he heard the man whisper, "Good, because we're getting married this afternoon."

When Lan Jingyi is escorted by Lan Xichen out of the "bridal" area, he's overwhelmed with the amount of people in attendance and the splendor with which everything has been decorated. In fact he's so shocked that he almost misses the look of pure awe on his alpha's faces as he walks towards them. His alphas. Lan Jingyi's insides are purring with pure happiness and he can already feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

He doesn't know how he makes it through the entire ceremony and celebration afterwards and while he is positive that he cried several times, the smile never left his face the entire day.

Lan Jingyi moans low as he tests the restraints at his hands and feet. With his head resting on Lan Sizhui's shoulder and Lan Sizhui's arms wrapping around his own supporting him, Lan Jingyi sits in Lan Sizhui's lap with his back pressing against his alpha's chest, Lan Sizhui reclining against the headboard. Both of Lan Jingyi's legs are spread wide over Lan Sizhui's knees. His arms wind down and behind the both of them, tied at the small of Sizhui's back.

When Lan Sizhui adjusts his hips, he can feel Lan Jingyi's wetness leaking out around his stiff cock. "Are you done yet?" he asks, stirring Lan Jingyi's insides a little more.

"Ugh, almost," comes the muffled grunt from Jin Ling's direction. "It would… be easier -AH!- if I had help," he pants out.

Lan Sizhui chuckles as he cranes his neck around to see Jin Ling trying to finger himself. "Sorry, we're a little tied up at the moment, A-Ling. I'm sure you can manage."

A few moments later and Jin Ling pulls his oiled coated fingers out of his stretched hole and, climbing on top of his two connected soulbonds, sinks himself down onto Lan Jingyi's straining erection. Lan Jingyi whimpers at the feeling of being used on both ends and clenches around Lan Sizhui in response.

Lan Sizhui bucks his hips up, setting a brutally slow pace for them that leaves both Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling pressing their hips for more. They move like that for a torturously long while before Jin Ling leans forward above the pair. Kissing Lan Jingyi's sweaty face, he whispers lovingly, "Mark me, A-Yi."

Lan Jingyi's hips buck up harshly at the words. "What?" he asks in a confused tone.

"Mark. Me." Jin Ling pants between downward thrusts of his hips and strokes of his cock. "Put your mark on me along with Lan Sizhui's. Show me I belong to you as much as you belong to me."

Lan Jingyi moans at the command and he's helpless not to comply. When Jin Ling leans in again a second time, Lan Jingyi doesn't hesitate to print his mark into that beautiful skin. One mark for each side, his and Lan Sizhui's. Jin Ling groans at the feeling and splatters his release on Lan Jingyi's stomach underneath him.

After a moment he slides off of the other two and starts untying Lan Jingyi's feet. When he is done with his first task, he leans in to kiss Lan Jingyi softly on the lips while reaching behind them to free his hands. With a last soft peck to their omega's cheek, Jing Ling tells Lan Sizhui, "He's all your, A-Yuan."

With a soft look in his eyes, Lan Sizhui helps Lan Jingyi turn around in his lap before peppering his face with sweet kisses. "Me next, my love, my A-Yi. Give me your mark as well," he whispers between kisses on Lan Jingyi's eyelids, causing Lan Jingyi's to gasp.

"Are you sure?" He asks timidly from his perch on Lan Sizhui's lap.

"Yes, come with me my love. Mark me and make me yours."

Tears fill Lan Jingyi's eyes and he falls onto Lan Sizhui, throwing his arms around the older man in a fierce hug. "Thank you!" he cries loudly, burying his face in Lan Sizhui's neck. "I love you both so much."

Lan Sizhui chuckles and kisses his cheek lightly. "Come now, A-Yi. You need to finish," he says, rocking his hips upwards in emphasis. Slowly they start to move like that and just as he is about to come, Lan Jingyi reaches behind him for Jin Ling's hand before leaving his mark on Lan Sizhui, right along side Jin Ling's.

Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui help their tired omega clean up and then tuck him under the sheets between them. He is fast asleep before they are even finished pulling them to his chin. With a small smile at each other, the pair laces their fingers together over top of Lan Jingyi's hip and they fall asleep holding him tight between them.

Yes, this is what they had been missing.


	5. Illusions of Grandeur-alternative ending

Illusions of Grandeur

Heather, Bell Flowers, and the Scent of Honey:

or, That Depressing Version of Jingyi's Sad Baby Love Tree

Jin Ling wakes up to sounds of desperate sobbing and the world comes crashing down around his ears. It was all an illusion conjured up by his desperate mind.

"He's gone!" Lan Sizhui practically screams through the tears. "How could we let this happen?"

Jin Ling doesn't know. He reaches out to touch the Lan Jingyi but Lan Sizhui smacks his hand away. "Don't touch him!" he screams. "Don't you dare," Lan Sizhui practically hisses at him, "If you had just _listened _to me… this wouldn't have happened! Look at him, Jin Rulan! _This _is what we were missing! _This is why you were never enough!_ And now he's gone!"

Jin Ling's hand falls limply back into his lap. He doesn't say anything in response. He doesn't move or look away from the still form in front of him, even as his vision begins to blur from tears.

He is still sitting there quietly when they come and try to take Lan Jingyi away from Lan Sizhui. He glances up with a dead look in his eyes and watches as his husband fights to keep their omega and fails as Lan Jingyi is ripped away from them. Still, he does nothing. He doesn't move to comfort his soulbond in either word or action. Jin Ling has no will to move or breathe.

Lan Jingyi is gone. His little omega and best friend, abandoned all of his life and left to die alone.

It was all his fault.

It's been months now and Jin Ling no longer knows how to go on. Nothing is the same. The world feels darker, more subdued, without them by his side. Sunshine no longer exists to him as he wanders the halls of Lanling Jin alone.

In the old darkened rooms of his and Lan Jingyi's shared living space, Lan Sizhui cries himself to sleep every night, face buried in a pair or robes that no longer carries the familiar scent of lemongrass.

This was what they were missing.


End file.
